Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Zags Around the Web and Other WCC Musings...

Whether you agree with it or not, this year's Gonzaga team is getting tons of love from the press. After two blowouts in which the Zags showed little to no weakness, this praise looks to be deserved. Just think about this. In the first game against MSU-B, Michael Hall scored the last 14 points of the first half against the Bulldogs. In the first half last night, Idaho could only muster up 11 points. Beautiful.

-- If you missed last night's Arizona-UAB game, it was probably a good thing but ESPN analyst and hairstyle enthusiast Steven Lavin ranked the Zags as the second best team in the West. Obviously he has UCLA as the best team out West. Gonzaga was followed by USC, Arizona State, and fellow WCC team St. Mary's. It's hard to disagree with the ranking because of how good UCLA has been in the past few years but if you watched them against Miami of Ohio, it's clear to see that they are vulnerable. As far as the Gonzaga-Arizona match up goes...let's just hope Kyle Fogg and Jamelle Horne are on the floor as much as possible for the 'Cats.

-- In some surprising news to me, former Gonzaga prospect Jeff Reid has signed a letter of intent with St. Louis University. The Zags were extremely off and on with Reid. They loved him early on and then seemed to move away but then Reid showed up at Gonzaga's Elite Camp. I liked Reid and thought he would end up at Kansas State. Best of luck to Jeff.

-- The next opponent for the Gonzaga Bulldogs is the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. The 'Pokes are 2-0 on the young season. They beat Texas-San Antonio by 19 in their first game and beat North Texas by 12 points two nights ago. Oklahoma State has two more games before they match up with the Zags. They will play Tulsa on Thursday and Grambling State on the 23rd of November

Looking at how the rest of the WCC fared in recent action.

Santa Clara's John Bryant had 23 second half points but it wasn't enough in SCU's four point loss to Florida Atlantic, 65-61

A very inconsistent San Francisco team kept their most recent match up with Cal very close. Cal won by 10 but, in good news for the Dons, Manny Quezada and Dior Lowhorn had excellent games with 27 and 20 points, respectively.

St. Mary's looked excellent at home in their 14 point victory over Fresno State, 99-85. Patty Mills had 27 points and Omar Samhan pulled down 13 rebounds...but this video is probably the thing everyone will remember from that game.